Re: [TANGO-L] 1 foot, 12 inch, 0.3048 metre height

[James Stein <alfred_russel @YAHOO.COM>]

Okay, I've got to jump in here, too; but to take
issue with your comments and to defend Astrid
(not that she's not capable of defending herself
:-)

You say:
  "... a follower must maintain her
  balance/axisat all times ..."
but this is an ideal.

I doubt that even one follower in two thousand
never goes off balance. Even followers with such
excellent balance that they would never lose it
when dancing alone must contend with leaders,
even the best of whom sometimes err in ways
that hamper their follower.

In my opinion, a good leader quickly, and often
automatically, adjusts the connection to assist
follower's balance whenever he feels she may be,
perhaps only very slightly, losing it. (It also
often works the other way, with her helping him.)
Furthermore, such help may be to counteract his
own error a moment earlier, having just disturbed
her balance without so intending.

Astrid's comment was about following a leader
significantly shorter than she. If you consider
the physics of it, a short person can more easily
disturb a tall person's balance than support it.
Thus, in the case under discussion, the short
leader is less able do his share to maintain the
couple's balance than is a taller leader.

I found Astrid's ideas clearly stated, as usual.
She was speaking about the real world, I think,
and not an ideal one where all dancers are
above average.
Errors abound in tango venues I frequent.
I am most aware of my own errors,
which are abundant.

---

At significant risk of being misunderstood, I will
here claim that many tango movements are achieved
when the leader judiciously manipulates the
follower's balance. I offer this as a
counter-example to the maxim "a follower must
maintain her balance/axis at all times."

-- Alfred


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